Spraying Roundup

[currituckbasser]

Morning Guys, it's been quite awhile since I've made a post on the boards. I've been extremely busy at work and working on remodeling the house so I've had little time for much of anything fun, including fishing.

I get up most every morning and walk my dog at the Currituck Government Center. When I got there this morning, I noticed a county truck near one of the ponds and a side by side with a water tank in the back. One guy was wading at the edge of the pond and spraying Roundup directly on the vegetation in the water. These ponds are water retention ponds that drain directly in the Currituck Sound. I'm a little concerned about the ramifications of using this product directly in water that will eventually make it's way into the ecosystem. I've called the public works dept. for the county and I'm waiting on a call back from the supervisor. Does this practice concern anyone else on the boards like it does me?

[Dypsis]

Glyphosate is labeled for use on aquatic vegetation and while it has shown to be toxic to a few species of fish it is well above label rates. There are restrictions on spraying new potable water but otherwise what this person did should be well within the law. He should have put signs out I would think as well.

[RobMVA]

I don't mind it.

[JeffG374V]

Could have been spraying something like Rodeo which is approved for aquatic environments

[Steve Albertson]

No way, I hope they stop the spraying. We need all the aquatic grass we can get.

[currituckbasser]

I did hear back from the supervisor of the public works dept. She said basically what Dypsis stated above. The person spraying had an applicators license and was using it as recommended. She did ask for some suggestions in controlling alligator weeds that didn't involve spraying, I had none to offer.

[johnpscott1]

Va Beach had city trucks spraying something in all the ditches around back Bay in the 80's. I inquires why they were doing it and was told that the ground was too soft for a tractor to mow it. Why mess with it at all. Anyway I agree that any chemicals draining into these sensitive waterways is bad news.